Washington, D.C.—Nevada Senator Harry Reid released the following statement in response to President Obama’s speech today on immigration:

“No one can deny we have made significant strides in securing our border – with more border patrol agents, better surveillance technology and a stronger fence than ever before. Democrats know there’s more work to be done, which is why we successfully fought a Republican budget that would have fired border agents and put our safety at risk. But as the President said today, to fix our broken immigration system, we must honestly assesses our immigration policies and their impact on our economy, legal system and local governments, and pursue a comprehensive solution to the problem.

“We need an effective and efficient legal immigration system. Part of securing our nation is knowing who is already here, so we must require the 11 million undocumented immigrants to register with the government, pay taxes and fines, learn English and go to the back of the line before they can achieve legal status. We should give the best and brightest students from around the globe – who come here to take advantage of our world-class education system – a chance to start businesses that employ American workers. And we should give children brought to this country through no fault of their own the opportunity through the DREAM Act to earn legal status if they serve in our armed forces or attend college.

“The path to mend our broken system may have begun with a more secure border and more agents to guard it. But it doesn’t end there. I’m pleased the President laid out a blueprint for comprehensive immigration reform that tackles the problem from all fronts.”